Junior High State Baseball
LaHarpe/Dallas City Baseball State Tourney
The LaHarpe/Dallas City boys junior high baseball team was in action at the 2A state tournament this past Friday, September 30th, in East Peoria. The Eagles were there to battle Warrensburg-Latham in a quarterfinal round contest. The LH/DC squad got off to a good start, with starting pitcher Spencer Ferguson retiring W-L without a run in the top of the first inning. In the bootom of the first, the Eagles got on the board first, scoring a single run. Kyle Tanner walked with one out, stole 2nd base, and scored on a two-out single by Dawson Ryner. W-L tied the score at one in the top of the 2nd inning, and the game stayed tied until the Eagle batted in the bottom of the 3rd inning. LH/DC pushed across two runs in that frame with Cory Hopper getting things started with a lead-off single. One out later Kyle Tanner lined a shot to right field that skipped by the rightfielder, all the way to the fence, for a run-scoring triple. Ryner plated Tanner on a fielder's choice to give LH/DC a 3-1 lead. The game stayed 3-1 until W-L scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning to take a 5-3 lead. The Eagles were never able to dent the board again even though they had a couple of chances. Jensen Corzatt lined out to the 1st baseman with two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the 5th, which could have potentially tied the game. The Eagles also had two men on in the 6th inning but failed to capitalize. The LH/DC squad finished the season with a fine record of 17-3. Along the way the Eagles won the Hancock County regular season championship, the Hancock County Tournament, the West Prairie Tournament, along with the regional and sectional championships.
